Nazaré

From Alcobaça, take the N8-5 directly west to Nazaré. This is the coast’s best-known tourist attraction, especially in the summer when native costumes add to the local color. At the extreme north end of the Nazaré beach looms the promontory called Sitio. You can ride the funicular up from the lower (Praia) area, or you can take N242 toward Marinha Grande and turn left when you get to the top of the hill. The Sitio is worth a visit if only for the panoramic views from the belvedere. While you’re there, stop in to see the colorful azulejos in the church nearby.The main hub of activity is the Praia area down below. Souvenir and handicraft shops line the north end of the beachfront, which they share with a myriad of small restaurants featuring an endless variety of seafood. Street vendors offering everything from model boats to sardines drying on wire racks complete the picture of a bustling resort town. Away from the beach you’ll encounter a labyrinth of narrow winding streets crowded with mostly residential buildings. At the end of the day you can see the town’s age-old livelihood carried out as dark-clad fishermen in long caps haul in their day’s catch. Before Nazaré had a real harbor, the fishermen pulled their colorfully painted boats from the water onto the beach (traditionally by oxen, now more often by tractors) for safekeeping overnight. Now the boats dock in the new marina.